Double pass interferometric encoder system

ABSTRACT

An encoder head includes one or more components arranged to: i) direct a first incident beam to the diffractive encoder scale at a first incident angle with respect to the encoder scale; ii) receive a first return beam from the encoder scale at a first return angle, the first return angle being different from the first incident angle; iii) redirect the first return beam to the encoder scale as a second incident beam at a second incident angle; and iv) receive a second return beam back from the encoder scale at a second return angle, the second return angle being different from the second incident angle, in which a difference between the first incident angle and second incident angle is less than a difference between the first incident angle and the first return angle and less than a difference between the second incident angle and the second return angle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Under 35 U.S.C. §120, this application is a continuation of and claimsbenefit to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/671,920, filed on Nov. 8, 2012,which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/557,755,filed on Nov. 9, 2011. The contents of the prior applications areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

In some cases, interferometric measuring systems monitor changes in therelative position of a measurement object based on an opticalinterference signal. For example, an interferometer generates theoptical interference signal by overlapping and interfering a measurementbeam reflected from the measurement object with a second beam, sometimescalled a “reference beam,” where the measurement beam and the referencebeam are derived from a common source. Changes in the relative positionof the measurement object correspond to changes in the phase of themeasured optical interference signal.

An example of such interferometric measuring systems are interferometricencoder systems, which evaluate the motion of an object by tracking ameasuring graduation, called the encoder scale. Typically, aninterferometric encoder system includes the encoder scale and an encoderhead. The encoder head is an assembly that includes an interferometer.The interferometer directs a measurement beam to the encoder scale,where it diffracts. The interferometer combines the diffractedmeasurement beam with a reference beam to form an output beam thatincludes a phase related to the position of the object. Encoder systemsare used extensively in lithographic applications for monitoring themotion of moveable stages in a lithography tool. Encoder systems can beadvantageous in such applications due to their relative insensitivity toatmospheric turbulence.

SUMMARY

The disclosure relates to double pass interferometric encoder systemsand methods, and applications for the double pass interferometricencoder systems and methods.

Various aspects of the invention are summarized as follows.

In general, in a first aspect, the subject matter of the disclosure canbe embodied in an encoder system that includes an encoder head for usewith a diffractive encoder scale, in which the encoder head includes oneor more optical components arranged to: i) direct a first incident beamto the diffractive encoder scale at a first incident angle with respectto a normal to the encoder scale; ii) receive a first return beam fromthe diffractive encoder scale at a first return angle with respect tothe normal to the encoder scale, the first return angle being differentfrom the first incident angle; iii) redirect the first return beam tothe diffractive encoder scale as a second incident beam at a secondincident angle with respect to the normal to the encoder scale; and iv)receive a second return beam back from the diffractive encoder scale ata second return angle with respect to the normal to the encoder scale,the second return angle being different from the second incident angle,in which a difference between the first incident angle and secondincident angle is less than a difference between the first incidentangle and the first return angle and less than a difference between thesecond incident angle and the second return angle.

Implementations of the system can include one or more of the followingfeatures and/or features of other aspects. For example, the one or moreoptical components can be arranged to combine the second return beamwith a reference beam to form an output beam, and the encoder systemincludes a detector positioned to detect the output beam.

The encoder system can further include an electronic processorconfigured to: receive an interference signal from the detector, theinterference signal including a phase related to an optical pathdifference between the reference beam and the second return beam; anddetermine information about a degree of freedom of the encoder scalebased on the phase. The phase can include a heterodyne phase. Theencoder system can further include the diffractive encoder scale. Theencoder scale can include a one dimensional or a two dimensionalgrating.

In some implementations, each of the first return beam and the secondreturn beam includes a diffracted beam. Each diffracted beam can includea first order diffracted beam.

In some implementations, the first incident beam and the first returnbeam are non-collinear and non-parallel, and the second incident beamand the second return beam are non-collinear and non-parallel.

In some implementations, the one or more optical components include abeam splitting component arranged to receive a source beam from anoptical source and to derive the first incident beam from the sourcebeam. Alternatively, or in addition, the beam splitting component isarranged to derive a reference beam from the source beam.

In some implementations, the system can further include a detector.

In some implementations, the one or more optical components include afirst reflecting component arranged to: receive the second return beam;and redirect the second return beam to the beam splitting component. Theone or more optical components also can include a second reflectingcomponent, the first reflecting component being arranged to redirect thefirst return beam to the second reflecting component, and the secondreflecting component being arranged to: receive the first return beamfrom the first reflecting component; and redirect the first return beamto the encoder scale as the second incident beam at the second incidentangle. The first reflecting component can include a grating, in whichthe grating is configured to diffract both the first return beam and thesecond return beam.

In some implementations, the one or more optical components include afirst retro-reflector and a first reflecting component, the firstreflecting component being arranged to: receive both the first returnbeam and the second return beam from the encoder scale; and redirect thefirst return beam and the second return beam to the firstretro-reflector, the first retro-reflector being arranged to redirectthe second return beam to the beam splitting component. The one or moreoptical components can also include a second reflecting component, inwhich the retro-reflector is arranged to redirect the first return beamfrom the first reflecting component to the second reflecting component.The second reflecting component can be arranged to: receive the firstreturn beam from the first reflecting component; and redirect the firstreturn beam to the measurement object as the second incident beam at thesecond angle.

In some implementations, the one or more optical components include afirst retro-reflector, in which the beam splitting component and thefirst retro-reflector are arranged in combination to: receive the firstreturn beam; and redirect the first return beam as the second incidentbeam to the measurement object. The first retro-reflector can bearranged to: receive the reference beam from the beam splittingcomponent; and redirect the reference beam to the beam splittingcomponent. In some implementations, the one or more optical componentsinclude multiple prism components between the beam splitting componentand the first retro-reflector, in which the multiple prism componentsare configured to increase a deviation between the first return beam andthe reference beam. The multiple prism components can be arranged in abeam path of the reference beam and a beam path of the first returnbeam. The multiple prism components can include wedge prisms orbirefringent prisms.

In some implementations, the system further includes a referencereflector arranged to receive, from the beam splitting component, thereference beam at a first position and at a second position. Thereference reflector can include a mirror. The reference reflector caninclude a surface of the encoder grating. The system can further includea first quarter wave-plate, the first quarter wave-plate being arrangedbetween the reference reflector and the beam splitting component.

In some implementations, the encoder system further includes a secondquarter wave-plate, the second quarter wave-plate being arranged betweenthe encoder grating and the beam splitting component.

In certain implementations, the one or more optical components include abeam combiner arranged to: receive the second return beam from theencoder scale; receive the reference beam from the beam splittingcomponent; and combine the second return beam with the reference beam toform the output beam. The one or more optical components can include aprism pair and a retroreflector. The prism pair and the retro reflectorcan be arranged in combination to redirect the first return beam to themeasurement object as the second incident beam.

In some implementations, the one or more optical components include asingle optical component.

In some implementations, the encoder system can be coupled to anillumination system, in which the illumination system includes: aradiation source, where during operation of the lithography system, thesource directs radiation to the encoder system; a detector to detect,during operation of the lithography system, an output beam from theencoder system; an electronic processor configured to receive aninterference signal from the detector, the interference signalcomprising a phase related to an optical path difference, and todetermine information about displacement of the encoder scale based onthe phase; and a positioning system coupled to the electronic processorand configured to adjust the position of the stage based on theinformation about the displacement of the encoder scale.

In certain aspects, the subject matter of the present disclosure can beembodied in a system that includes a moveable stage, and an encodersystem. Either a diffractive encoder scale or a measurement object canbe attached to the moveable stage. The encoder system can include anencoder head for use with the diffractive encoder scale, in which theencoder head includes one or more optical components arranged to: directa first incident beam to the diffractive encoder scale at a firstincident angle with respect to a normal to the encoder scale; receive afirst return beam from the diffractive encoder scale at a first returnangle with respect to the normal to the encoder scale, the first returnangle being different from the first incident angle; redirect the firstreturn beam to the diffractive encoder scale as a second incident beamat a second incident angle with respect to the normal to the encoderscale; and receive a second return beam back from the diffractiveencoder scale at a second return angle with respect to the normal to theencoder scale, the second return angle being different from the secondincident angle, in which a difference between the first incident angleand second incident angle is less than either a difference between thefirst incident angle and the first return angle or a difference betweenthe second incident angle and the second return angle.

In certain aspects, the subject matter of the present disclosure can beembodied in a lithography system that includes a moveable stage andencoder system, in which either a diffractive encoder scale or ameasurement object can be attached to the moveable stage. Thelithography system can further include an illumination system coupled tothe encoder system, in which the illumination system has a radiationsource, such that during operation of the lithography system, the sourcedirects radiation to the encoder system. The lithography system canfurther include a detector to detect, during operation of thelithography system, an output beam from the encoder system, and anelectronic processor configured to receive an interference signal fromthe detector, the interference signal comprising a phase related to anoptical path difference, and to determine information about displacementof the encoder scale based on the phase. The lithography system canfurther include a positioning system coupled to the electronic processorand configured to adjust the position of the stage based on theinformation about the displacement of the encoder scale.

The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and the description below. Other features and advantages willbe apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of an example interferometric encoder system.

FIGS. 2-10 are schematics of example double pass interferometric encodersystems.

FIG. 11A is a schematic of an example optical component of an encoderhead.

FIG. 11B is a three-dimensional schematic of the component shown in FIG.11A.

FIG. 11C is a schematic of the optical component shown in FIG. 11A.

FIG. 11D is a three-dimensional schematic of the component shown in FIG.11A.

FIG. 12 is a three-dimensional schematic of an example optical componentof an encoder head.

FIG. 13A is a three-dimensional schematic of a measurement opticalcomponent of an encoder head.

FIG. 13B is a three-dimensional schematic of a reference opticalcomponent for use with the optical component shown in FIG. 13A.

FIG. 13C is a three-dimensional schematic of the optical component shownin FIG. 13A optically coupled to the optical component shown in FIG.13B.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are two-dimensional schematics each showing across-section of the optical component of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a lithography toolthat includes a double pass interferometric encoder system.

FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B are flow charts that describe steps for makingintegrated circuits.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an interferometric encoder system 100 includes alight source module 120 (e.g., including a laser), an optical assembly110, a measurement object 101, a detector module 130 (e.g., including apolarizer and a detector), and an electronic processor 150. Generally,light source module 120 includes a light source and can also includeother components such as beam shaping optics (e.g., light collimatingoptics), light guiding components (e.g., fiber optic waveguides) and/orpolarization management optics (e.g., polarizers and/or wave plates).Various embodiments of optical assembly 110 are described below. In someimplementations, the optical assembly may also be referred to as the“encoder head.” A Cartesian coordinate system is shown for reference, inwhich the Y-axis (not shown) extends into the page.

Measurement object 101 is positioned some nominal distance from opticalassembly 110 along the Z-axis. In many applications, such as where theencoder system is used to monitor the position of a wafer stage orreticle stage in a lithography tool, measurement object 101 is movedrelative to the optical assembly 110 in the x- and/or y-directions whileremaining nominally a constant distance from the optical assemblyrelative to the z-axis. This constant distance can be relatively small(e.g., a few centimeters or less). However, in such applications, thelocation of measurement object typically will vary a small amount fromthe nominally constant distance and the relative orientation of themeasurement object within the Cartesian coordinate system can vary bysmall amounts too. During operation, encoder system 100 monitors one ormore of these degrees of freedom of measurement object 101 with respectto optical assembly 110, including a position of measurement object 101with respect to the x-axis, and further including, in certainembodiments, a position of the measurement object 101 with respect tothe y-axis and/or z-axis and/or with respect to pitch and yaw angularorientations.

To monitor the position of measurement object 101, source module 120directs an input beam 122 to optical assembly 110. Optical assembly 110derives a measurement beam 112 from input beam 122 and directsmeasurement beam 112 to measurement object 101. Optical assembly 110also derives a reference beam (not shown) from input beam 122 anddirects the reference beam along a path different from the measurementbeam. For example, optical assembly 110 can include a beam splitter thatsplits input beam 122 into measurement beam 112 and the reference beam.The measurement and reference beams can have orthogonal polarizations(e.g., orthogonal linear polarizations).

Measurement object 101 includes an encoder scale 105, which is ameasuring graduation that diffracts the measurement beam from theencoder head into one or more diffracted orders. In general, encoderscales can include a variety of different diffractive structures such asgratings or holographic diffractive structures. Examples of gratingsinclude sinusoidal, rectangular, or saw-tooth gratings. Gratings can becharacterized by a periodic structure having a constant pitch, but alsoby more complex periodic structures (e.g., chirped gratings). Ingeneral, the encoder scale can diffract the measurement beam into morethan one plane. For example, the encoder scale can be a two-dimensionalgrating that diffracts the measurement beam into diffracted orders inthe x-z and y-z planes. The encoder scale extends in the x-y plane overdistances that correspond to the range of the motion of measurementobject 110.

In the present embodiment, encoder scale 105 is a grating having gratinglines that extend orthogonal to the plane of the page, parallel to they-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system of FIG. 1. The grating linesare periodic along the x-axis. Encoder scale 105 has a grating planecorresponding to the x-y plane and the encoder scale diffractsmeasurement beam 112 into one or more diffracted orders in the y-zplane.

At least one of these diffracted orders of the measurement beam (labeledbeam 114), returns to optical assembly 110, where it is combined withthe reference beam to form an output beam 132. For example, theonce-diffracted measurement beam 114 can be the first-order diffractedbeam.

Output beam 132 includes phase information related to the optical pathlength difference between the measurement beam and the reference beam.Optical assembly 110 directs output beam 132 to detector module 130 thatdetects the output beam and sends a signal to electronic processor 150in response to the detected output beam. Electronic processor 150receives and analyzes the signal and determines information about one ormore degrees of freedom of measurement object 101 relative to opticalassembly 110.

In certain embodiments, the measurement and reference beams have a smalldifference in frequency (e.g., a difference in the kHz to MHz range) toproduce an interferometry signal of interest at a frequency generallycorresponding to this frequency difference. This frequency ishereinafter referred to interchangeably as the “heterodyne” frequency.Information about the changes in the relative position of themeasurement object generally corresponds to a phase of theinterferometry signal at this heterodyne frequency. Signal processingtechniques can be used to extract this phase. In general, the moveablemeasurement object causes this phase term to be time-varying. In thisregard, the first order time derivative of the measurement objectmovement causes the frequency of the interferometry signal to shift fromthe heterodyne frequency by an amount referred to herein as the“Doppler” shift.

The different frequencies of the measurement and reference beams can beproduced, for example, by laser Zeeman splitting, by acousto-opticalmodulation, using two different laser modes, or internal to the laserusing birefringent elements, among other techniques. The orthogonalpolarizations allow a polarizing beam-splitter to direct the measurementand reference beams along different paths, and combine them to form theoutput beam that subsequently passes through a polarizer, which mixesthe orthogonally polarized components so they can interfere. In theabsence of target motion, the interference signal oscillates at theheterodyne frequency, which is just the difference in the opticalfrequencies of the two components. In the presence of target motion, theheterodyne frequency incurs a change related to the velocity of thetarget through well-known Doppler relations. Accordingly, monitoringchanges in the heterodyne frequency allows one to monitor motion of thetarget relative to the optical assembly.

In the embodiments described below, the “input beam” generally, refersto the beam emitted by the light source module. For heterodynedetection, the input beam includes components having slightly differentfrequencies, as discussed above.

In certain embodiments, the interferometer systems are designed so theydo not operate at Littrow. For example, in general, the measurement beamis incident on measurement object 101 at an incident angle such that theonce-diffracted measurement beam does not satisfy the Littrow condition.The Littrow condition refers to an orientation of a diffractivestructure, such as a grating, with respect to an incident beam where thediffractive structure directs the diffracted beam back towards thesource. In other words, in encoder system 100, the once-diffractedmeasurement beam does not satisfy the Littrow condition because theonce-diffracted measurement beam is non-co-linear with the measurementbeam that is incident on the encoder scale.

While encoder scale 105 is depicted in FIG. 1 as a structure that isperiodic in one direction, more generally, the measurement object caninclude a variety of different diffractive structures that appropriatelydiffract the measurement beam. In some embodiments, the measurementobject can include a diffractive structure (e.g., a encoder scale) thatis periodic in two directions (e.g., along the x- and y-axis),diffracting the measurement beam into beams in two orthogonal planes. Ingeneral, the diffractive structure of the encoder scale and sourcemodule are selected so that the encoder system provides one or morediffracted measurement beams having sufficient intensity to establishone or more detectable interference signals when combined withcorresponding reference beams, within the geometrical constraints forthe system. In some embodiments, the source module provides an inputbeam having a wavelength in a range from 400 nm to 1,500 nm. Forexample, the input beam can have a wavelength of about 633 nm or about980 nm. Note that, in general, the frequency splitting of the heterodynesource results in only a very small difference between the wavelength ofthe two components of the input beam, so even though the input beam isnot strictly monochromatic it remains practical to characterize theinput beam by a single wavelength. In some embodiments, the sourcemodule can include a gas laser (e.g., a HeNe laser), a laser diode orother solid-state laser source, a light-emitting diode, or a thermalsource such as a halogen light with or without a filter to modify thespectral bandwidth.

In general, the diffractive structure (e.g., grating pitch) can varydepending on the wavelength of the input beam and the arrangement ofoptical assembly and diffracted orders used for the measurement. In someembodiments, the diffractive structure is a grating having a pitch in arange from about 1λ to about 20λ, where λ is a wavelength of the source.The grating can have a pitch in a range from about 1 μm to about 10 μm.

In some cases, optical errors can be introduced into the interferometricencoder system through a process typically referred to as beam mixing,in which “ghost” beams interfere with the measurement and/or referencebeams. These ghost beams may have different amplitudes, different phaseoffsets, and/or difference frequencies from the beams with which theycombine, resulting in a shift in a detected phase of the interferometrysignal. Accordingly, measurements of the relative position of theencoder scale may deviate from the encoder scale's actual position, thuslimiting the accuracy of displacement changes measured by theinterferometer.

Such ghost beams can be caused by various imperfections in theinterferometric encoder system. For example, if the measurement andreference beams have difference frequencies, ellipticity in thepolarizations of the different frequency components of those beams maylead to unwanted leakage of the reference and/or measurement beamsthrough one or more optical components of in the interferometric encodersystem. Unwanted leakage of the reference and/or measurement beams canalso be caused by imperfections in an optical component, itself. Forexample, the interferometric encoder system may include a polarizingbeam splitter in which the beam splitter has a low extinction ratio,such that unwanted beam components are transmitted instead of beingreflected by the beam splitter and vice versa. Ghost beams also canarise due to unwanted reflections from other components of theinterferometric encoder system. For example, in some implementations, aportion of a beam incident on the encoder scale is diffracted back alongthe incident direction instead of being diffracted along a path that isnon-colinear with the input beam.

Other optical errors also can occur in the interferometric encodersystem due to the occurrence of beam shearing. Beam shear arises whenthe relative position of the encoder grating with respect to the encoderhead increases or decreases (e.g., caused by movement of the encoderscale and/or the encoder head along the z-direction in FIG. 1). In somecases, this motion can cause the beam paths of the measurement beam andreference beam to diverge, leading to further measurement errors of theencoder scale position. Similar errors can arise due to small changes inorientation of the encoder scale with respect to the encoder headincluding, for example, changes in the tip, tilt and yaw of the encoderscale.

To improve the tolerance for the aforementioned errors, aninterferometric encoder system can be configured such that themeasurement beam makes a double pass to the encoder scale such that themeasurement beam is twice diffracted from the encoder scale. Byconfiguring the system to produce large angle differences between theincident beams and the corresponding diffracted beams, interference fromghost beams and other spurious beams can be reduced. In someimplementations, the double pass arrangement for the interferometricencoder system also can compensate for beam shear that may occur whenthe relative distance between the encoder scale and the encoder headchanges. Additionally, the double pass configuration has, in someimplementations, the advantage of compensating, to a first order, smallchanges in the orientation of the object, such as tip, tilt and yaw.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of an example of encoder head 210 of a double passinterferometric encoder system 200 for monitoring the position of ameasurement object 105, in which the encoder head 210 is configured suchthat a measurement beam makes two passes to a measurement object 105 anda single diffracted beam returning from the measurement object 105 isused in combination with a reference beam to determine a position of themeasurement object 105. In the present example, the measurement object105 is an encoder scale, such as a one-dimensional grating. The encoderscale 105 can be attached to another object including, for example, amoveable stage.

The encoder system 200 is configured to detect displacements along the zcoordinate and along the x coordinate, where z is orthogonal to thegrating surface and x is in the plane of the grating surface andorthogonal to the grating grooves shown. The encoder head 210 includes afirst beam splitter 202, a second beam splitter (beam combiner) 204, aretro-reflector 206, and a prism pair 208. During operation of theencoder system 200, the encoder head 210 receives a source beam 101 froman optical source 120. The first beam splitter 202 divides the sourcebeam into a measurement beam and a reference beam 30, which are thendirected along different paths. As shown in FIG. 2, the measurement beamincludes four different portions: a first incident beam 11, a firstreturn beam 12, a second incident beam 21, and a second return beam 22.Because the measurement object 105 is an encoder scale, the first returnbeam 12 corresponds to a diffracted order (e.g., first order or secondorder) of the first incident beam 11.

The first return beam 12 is redirected by the combination of theretro-reflector 206 and prism pair 208 to return to the encoder scale105 as the second incident beam 21, where the measurement beam is againdiffracted to produce the second return beam 22. The second return beam22 corresponds to a diffracted order (e.g., first order or second order)of the second incident beam 12. The beam splitter 204 then recombinesthe reference beam 30 and the second return beam 22 to form an outputbeam 207 that is directed toward detector. An interference signal formedat detector 130 then is passed to an electronic processor thatdetermines position information about the encoder scale 105 based on theinterference signal.

The source beam can be generated from a heterodyne source, such as aheterodyne laser, in which the source beam comprises two separate beamspropagating with slightly different frequencies encoded by orthogonalpolarizations. Beam splitter 202 can be a polarizing beam splitter thatseparates the two frequencies based on their different polarizations.Upon recombination of the reference beam 203 and the second return beam22 at beam combiner 204, the output beam 207 propagates to a detectormodule 130. A sinusoidal signal is obtained from a beat frequency of thedetected output beam 207, in which the phase of the signal isφ_(m)-φ_(r), where φ_(r) is the reference phase, presumed stable orknown, and φ_(m) is the measurement phase.

Assuming that the plane of incidence for the first and second incidentbeams contains the x coordinate and defining angles with respect to thez coordinate shown, the angles at which the beams 11, 12, 21, 22propagate with respect to a normal of the encoder scale 105 are θ₁₁,θ₁₂, θ₂₁, θ₂₂, respectively. The angle θ₂₂ for second return beam 22 isshown in FIG. 2 as an example. Because the measurement object 105diffracts the incident beams, the following well-known gratingrelationships apply:sin(θ₁₁)+sin(θ₁₂)=mλ/D  (1)sin(θ₂₁)+sin(θ₂₂)=mλ/D  (2)where m is an integer known as the diffraction order and D is thegrating pitch or spacing between the lines or repeated features of theencoder scale 105. As is evident from the figure, the followingadditional inequalities apply. The first return beam 12 is neithercollinear nor parallel to the first incident beam 11:θ₁₂≠θ₁₁  (3)The second return beam 22 is neither collinear nor parallel to thesecond incident beam 21:θ₂₂≠θ₂₁  (4)

A further basic characteristic of the configuration shown in FIG. 2 isthat the difference between the angle of propagation of the firstincident beam 11 and the angle of propagation of the second incidentbeam 21 is smaller than the difference between the angle of propagationof the first incident beam 11 and first return beam 12:|θ₁₁−θ₂₁|<|θ₁₁−θ₁₂|;  (5)and the difference between the angle of propagation of the firstincident beam 11 and the angle of propagation of the second incidentbeam 21 is smaller than the difference between the angle of propagationof the second incident beam 21 and the angle of propagation of thesecond return beam 22:|θ₁₁−θ₂₁|<|θ₂₁−θ₂₂|.  (6)Similarly, the difference between the angle of propagation of the firstreturn beam 12 and the angle of propagation of the second return beam 22is smaller than the difference between the angle of propagation of thefirst incident beam 11 and first return beam 12:|θ₁₂−θ₂₂|<|θ₁₁−θ₁₂|.  (7)The difference between the angle of propagation of the first return beam12 and the angle of propagation of the second return beam 22 is smallerthan the difference between the angle of propagation of the secondincident beam 21 and second return beam 22:|θ₁₂−θ₂₂|<|θ₂₁−θ₂₂|.  (8)The magnitudes of the inequalities in equations (3) through (8) arelarge enough such that the beams are not obstructed by the opticalcomponents. For example, beam 11 shown in FIG. 2 is not blocked byretroreflective prism 206. In the present example, the two incidentbeams 11 and 21 are approximately parallel, whereas the two reflectedbeams 12 and 22 are approximately parallel:θ₁₁≈θ₂₁  (9)θ₁₂≈θ₂₂.  (10)In contrast, for the present example, neither incident beam is parallelto the corresponding reflected beam, as indicated in equations (3) and(4).

In some implementations, the differences in angles between the incidentand return beams are large enough to reduce the measurement errorscaused by contamination of the final interference signal from ghostreflections and other spurious beams. For example, in someimplementations, the optical components of the encoder head 210 arearranged such that the inequalities in equations (5) through (8) arelarger than about 1 mrad for 1 mm beam diameters. In some cases,proportionally larger angles can be used for smaller beam diameters.

The double pass interferometric encoder system can be sensitive to thedisplacement of the encoder scale 105 along two orthogonal directions.For example, an in-plane displacement of the encoder scale 105 along thex coordinate changes the phase Φ_(m) of the measurement beam after tworeflections from the encoder (e.g., the second return beam 22) at a ratethat can be expressed asφ_(m)=(4πm/D)Δx,  (11)where Δx is the displacement of the encoder scale 105 along the xdirection. Similarly, an out of plane displacement of the encoder scale105 along the z coordinate is given byφ_(m)=4πΔz√{square root over (1−(mλ/D)²)},  (12)where Δz is the displacement of the encoder scale 105 along the zdirection. Equations (11) and (12) also can apply for movement of theencoder head 210 relative to the encoder scale 105. Accordingly, oncethe electronic processor has evaluated the phase information from thedetected interference signal, equations (11) and (12) can be used todetermine the motion of the encoder head 210 or encoder scale 105 in xor in z directions. For example, as would be appreciated by one ofordinary skill in the art, the electronic processor can calculate themeasurement phase φ_(m) by subtracting the known reference phase φ_(r)from the phase information of the detected signal, and then calculatethe displacement in the x or z direction using equations (11) and (12).

For applications in which either the encoder scale and/or encoder headmove along two orthogonal directions (e.g., along the x and zdirections), the encoder head 210 can be modified to extract positioninformation along each of the different orthogonal directions ofmovement, separately. For example, in some implementations, the encoderhead 210 is expanded to include a second set of the optical componentsshown in FIG. 2 (e.g., beam splitter 202, beam splitter 204,retro-reflector 206, and prism pair 208). The second set of opticalcomponents is configured to derive a second measurement beam from thesource beam, such that the second measurement beam makes another twopasses to the surface of the encoder scale. In contrast to the firstmeasurement beam, however, the angle at which the second measurementbeam is initially incident on the encoder scale 105 is different fromthe angle of incidence for beam 11, e.g., the second measurement beamcan be initially incident at an angle corresponding to −θ₁₁ with respectto a normal of the encoder scale surface. To distinguish from the xdirection and they direction, at least two measurements at two differentangles are used. The different angles can include, but are not limitedto, angles that are equal in magnitude but in opposite directions. Thephase dependency on Δx in equation (11) is thus reversed for the secondmeasurement beam but the phase dependency on z in equation (12) remainsthe same. Accordingly, the difference between the two results providedby equation (11) for the first and second measurement beams can be usedto extract the x displacement independent of z. Alternatively or inaddition, the sum of the two results provided by equation (12) for thefirst and second measurement beams can be used to extract the zdisplacement independent of x.

The inequalities referred to in the equations above with respect to thesystem of FIG. 2 also apply to the additional embodiments describedbelow. In particular, the interferometric encoder systems are configuredto preclude both the return beam angles 12 and 22 from being exactly atthe Littrow condition. Thus, at least some angular separation isintroduced between the beams, which can help to reduce positionmeasurement errors caused by interference from ghost reflections. Insome embodiments, the encoder head can be configured to enhance aseparation between the reference beam path and the measurement beam pathin the optical components. Increasing the separation between beam pathscan reduce the possibility of spurious beams contributing significantlyto the interference signal.

For example, FIG. 3 is a schematic of a double pass interferometricencoder system 300 including an encoder head 310 for monitoring theposition of a measurement object 105, in which the encoder head 310 isconfigured to increase the separation between a reference beam path anda measurement beam path. The encoder head 310 includes a polarizationbeam splitter 302, a retro-reflector 304, a pair of wedge prisms 306 anda reference reflector 308. The encoder head 310 also can include a firstquarter wave-plate 312 between the reference reflector 308 and the beamsplitter 302, and a second quarter wave-plate 314 between themeasurement object 105 (e.g., an encoder scale) and the beam splitter302. The wedge prisms 306 introduce into the system 300 the inequalitiesaccording to equations (3) through (8). In certain implementations, theconfiguration of encoder head 310 has the advantages of high thermalstability and ease of use for managing large beams.

As shown in the example of FIG. 3, the encoder head 310 receives asource beam 301 from a source 120. The beam splitter 302 derives areference beam 303 and a measurement beam from the source beam 301(e.g., based on differences in polarization of different frequencycomponents of the source beam). The measurement beam includes fourdifferent portions: a first incident beam 11, a first return beam 12, asecond incident beam 21, and a second return beam 22. The beam splitter302 directs the first incident beam 11 through the second quarterwave-plate 314 to the encoder scale 105, where the first incident beam11 is diffracted to produce first return beam 12. The first return beam12 is redirected by the combination of the beam splitter 302 and theretro-reflector 304 back to the encoder scale 105 as a second incidentbeam 21, where the second incident beam 21 then is diffracted to producesecond return beam 22.

The beam splitter 302 also redirects the reference beam 303 toward thereference reflector 308. The reference reflector 308 can include anysuitable reflecting surface such as, for example, a mirror. In someimplementations, the position of the reflector 308 is adjustable. Forexample, in some cases, the reflector 308 can be attached to a moveablestage. The reference reflector 308 reflects the reference beam 303 backto the beam splitter 302, where the beam 303 is redirected by thecombination of beam splitter 302 and retro-reflector 304 back again tothe reference reflector 308. The reference reflector 308 reflects thereference beam 303 a second time to the beam splitter 302. Instead ofpassing through the beam splitter 302, the twice-reflected referencebeam 303 then is combined with the second return beam 22 to form anoutput beam 307. Output beam 307 is recorded by a detector module 130that includes a detector (e.g., photodetector) and a mixing polarizer.The beam separation is accomplished based on the different polarizationof the incident beams. For example, beam 301 has an s-polarizationcomponent that reflects towards the reference mirror 308 and a ppolarization component that transmits as a measurement beam towards thegrating 105. After two passes through the quarter waveplate 314, thepolarizations are reversed so that the reference beam is transmitted andthe measurement beam is reflected.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of another example double pass interferometricencoder system 400 including an encoder head 410. The arrangement of theencoder head 410 is similar to the encoder head 310 shown in FIG. 3,except that in the place of the wedge prism, encoder head 410 includes afirst birefringent prism pair 416 and a second birefringent prism pair418. The addition of the birefringent prism pairs cause additionaldeviation/separation between the measurement and reference beam pathsthrough the encoder 410.

In some embodiments, the encoder head can be designed to measure a firstdirection of motion independent of a second orthogonal direction ofmotion. For example, FIG. 5 shows a schematic of a double passinterferometric encoder system 500 that includes an encoder head 510configured to measure displacement of the encoder scale 105 in the xdirection independent of the z direction. The configuration of theencoder head 510 is similar to the example shown in FIG. 3. In contrastto the example of FIG. 3, however, the encoder head 510 is configuredsuch that a reference beam 503 is incident on a portion of the encoderscale surface instead of a reference reflector. That is, the beamsplitter 502 is positioned with respect to the encoder scale so that theincident reference beam 503 a exiting beam splitter 502 travels along abeam path toward the encoder scale 105. The incident reference beam 503then is diffracted by encoder scale to produce a diffracted referencebeam having a diffraction order (e.g., first order or second order) thatpropagates to the beam splitter 502. The combination of beam splitter502 and retro-reflector 504 redirect the once-diffracted beam backtoward the encoder scale 105, where the once-diffracted beam isdiffracted again. The twice-diffracted reference beam 503 b then returnsto the beam splitter 502 and is combined with a twice-diffractedmeasurement beam to produce the output beam.

When the reference beam 503 is incident on the encoder scale 105 atangle with respect to a normal of the encoder surface corresponding to−θ₁₁ (negative of the angle at which incident measurement beam 11impacts the encoder scale), the configuration shown in the example ofFIG. 5 can be used to determine the displacement of the encoder scale105 along the x direction independently of the z direction. For example,equation (11) can be used to calculate the phase dependency on Δx forboth the twice-diffracted reference beam and the twice-diffractedmeasurement beam. The difference between the two results provided byequation (11) for the reference and measurement beams then can be usedto extract the x displacement independent of z absent tilt about the yaxis.

In general, the difference in angles between the incident beams andcorresponding diffracted beams in the embodiments illustrated in FIGS.2-5 can include, but are not limited to, angles in the range of betweenabout 1 and about 10 degrees. In some implementations, the difference inangles can be less. For example, referring to FIG. 3, the difference inangles can be between about 1 mrad and about 10 mrad. In someembodiments, the encoder head can be configured to produce largedifferences in angles between incident beams and diffracted beams. Forinstance, FIG. 6 is a schematic of an example double passinterferometric encoder system 600, in which the angles between anincident measurement beam and a corresponding diffracted beam can be onthe order o about 10 degrees to about 80 degrees.

The encoder head 610 includes a beam splitter 602 to derive a referencebeam and a first incident measurement beam 11 from a source beam 601.The first incident beam 11 propagates toward the encoder scale 105 andis diffracted to produce a first diffracted return beam 12. The returnbeam 12 is reflected by a first reflecting component 604 towards asecond reflecting component 606. The second reflecting component 606then redirects the first return beam 12 toward the encoder scale 105 asa second incident beam 21. The second incident beam 21 is diffracted bythe encoder scale 105 to produce a second return beam 22, in which thesecond return beam 22 corresponds to a twice-diffracted measurementbeam. The second return beam 22 then is redirected by first reflectingcomponent 604 towards the beam splitter/combiner 602 and combined withthe reference beam to produce an output beam 605 that passes to adetector module 130 (e.g., including a polarizer and a detector). Thefirst reflecting component 604 and second reflecting component 606 caninclude any suitable highly reflective component such as, for example, amirror.

For the purpose of illustration, diffraction of the incident beam isshown in FIG. 6 only within the plane of the figure. The system 600 canbe configured, however, to also redirect beams that diffract alongdirections into or out of the plane of the figure for full 3Dretro-reflection and thus further reduce the system's sensitivity toobject tilt. Similar to the embodiments disclosed in FIGS. 2-5, thesystem 600 can be used to compensate for lateral beam shear at thedetector, in which the beam shear is caused by relative changes inposition of the encoder head 610 or encoder scale 105 along directionsparallel to the z direction.

FIG. 7 is a schematic of an example double pass interferometric encodersystem 700 that is a variation of the arrangement shown in FIG. 6. Inparticular, the encoder head 710 of system 700 includes aretro-reflector 708 in addition to the first reflective component 704,the second reflective component 706, and the beam-splitter/beam-combiner702. The retro-reflector 708 is operable to receive a first return beam12 from the first reflective component 704 and redirect the beam 12 tothe second reflective component 706, which, in turn, is operable todirect the beam 12 toward encoder scale 105. The retro-reflector 708also is operable to redirect a second return beam 22 toward the beamsplitter 702 where the second return beam 22 is combined atbeam-splitter/beam-combiner 702 with a reference beam to form an outputbeam 705.

FIG. 8 is a schematic of an example double pass interferometric encodersystem 800 that is another variation of the arrangement shown in FIG. 6.In particular, the first reflecting component 804 includes a diffractingcomponent such as, for example, a diffraction grating. Accordingly, themeasurement beam which is combined with the reference beam at thebeam-splitter/beam-combiner 802 corresponds to a beam that has beendiffracted four different times, including twice by the encode scale 105and twice by the diffracting component 804. In certain implementations,the encoder head configuration shown in FIG. 8 is capable of improvingthe compensation for grating tilts compared to the encoder headconfiguration of the system 600 shown in FIG. 6. In particular, theencoder head 810 compensates for the nonlinear diffraction anglebehavior of the encoder scale 105. As would be understood by one ofordinary skill, if there is a small change in the angle of incident beam11, the change in the angle of the reflected beam 12 calculated from Eq.(1) will not be the same as the change in the angle of incident beam 11.However, by placing the diffracting component 804 as shown, thisdifference in angle changes is compensated, and beam 21 remains parallelto beam 11, as in Eq. (9).

FIG. 9 is a schematic of an example double pass interferometric encodersystem 900 that is another variation of the arrangement shown in FIG. 6.The encoder system 900 employs a transmission grating 904 fortransmitting a first return beam 12 and a second return beam 22 from theencoder scale 105. The system 900 includes a retro-reflector 906 toredirect the first return beam 12 as a second incident beam 21 to theencoder scale 105, and includes a reflective component 908 to redirect asecond return beam 22 that has passed through the transmission grating904 towards the beam splitter 902. In some implementations, thearrangement shown in FIG. 9 improves the tolerance for tilting of theencoder scale 105 by compensating for the nonlinear diffraction behaviorof the encoder scale 105 at different tilt angles.

FIG. 10 is a schematic of an example double pass interferometric encodersystem 1000 that is another variation of the arrangement shown in FIG.6. The encoder system 1000 employs a prism component 1004 (e.g., a glassprism), a reflective component 1006 (e.g., mirror) and a retro-reflector1008. In some implementations, the arrangement shown in FIG. 10 improvesthe tolerance for tilting of the encoder scale 105 by compensating forthe nonlinear diffraction behavior of the encoder scale 105 at differenttilt angles.

In some embodiments, a single monolithic optical component can be usedto cause the measurement beam to make two passes to the encoder scale.Using a single monolithic optical component can enable more compactencoder system designs as well as reduce alignment requirements. FIG.11A is a schematic of a single monolithic optical component 1110 toredirect the measurement beam 1101 toward an encoder scale 105 usinginternal reflections within the body of the component 1110. FIG. 11B isa three-dimensional schematic of the component 1110 shown in FIG. 11A.FIG. 11C is an alternate view of the optical component 1110 shown inFIG. 11A. FIG. 11D is an alternate three-dimensional view of thecomponent 1110. For the purpose of illustration, the reference beam andother optical components of the encoder system are not shown. Thecomponent 1110 can be formed from a suitable optically transparentmaterial including, for example, glass. The component 1110 shown inFIGS. 11A-11D contains an implicit glass wedge in which the diffractedbeams from the encoder scale 105 enter and exit the component 1110 withdifferent angles as measured with respect to the normal of the encoderscale 105 and with respect to a surface normal of the component 1110.The surface angles of the optical component 1110 are optimized such thatthe nonlinear behavior of the refraction angles of the implicit wedgecompensate for the nonlinear behavior of diffraction angles with respectto grating tilts of the encoder scale. Between the first and secondinteraction with the encoder scale 105, the measurement beam undergoesthree internal reflections in the optical component 1110, similar to abeam path within a retro-reflector.

In some implementations, the encoder head configurations shown in FIG. 8and FIG. 11 have the additional benefits of 1) being compensated forbeam shear at the detector with z motion and 2) exhibiting little or nobeam foreshortening, in contrast to the encoder head configurations ofthe embodiments shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, which exhibit partialcompensation for beam shear and foreshortening.

In some embodiments, the encoder head shown in FIG. 11 can be modifiedto improve efficiency. For example, FIG. 12 is a three-dimensionalschematic of a monolithic optical component 1210 configured to receivetwo diffraction orders after the initial diffraction of the measurementbeam as opposed to capturing a single diffraction order. For example,the optical component 1210 can be configured to receive both a the +1and −1 diffracted beams from the encoder scale and redirect each of the+1 and −1 diffracted beams back to the encoder scale 105. Thus, twoseparate twice-diffracted measurement beams are output by the component1210. Each of the two measurement beams can be combined with a referencebeam to produce two output beams, which then can be used to calculate aposition of the encoder scale 105 in two dimensions. For the purpose ofillustration, the reference beam and other optical components of theencoder system are not shown. Again, the component 1210 can be formedfrom a suitable optically transparent material including, for example,glass.

In some embodiments, the surfaces of the monolithic optical componentthat face the encoder scale 105 can be combined in a single continuousflat surface. For example, FIG. 13A is a three-dimensional schematic ofa monolithic optical component 1310 in which the measurement beam exitsand enters the optical component 1310 through a single flat surface 1302of the component 1310. FIG. 13B is a three-dimensional schematic of amonolithic optical component 1312 for use with the optical component1310 in which the optical component 1312 is configured to receive areference beam. The optical component 1310 and component 1312 areconfigured such that the optical path length of the measurement beam1305 through component 1310 is equal to the optical path length of thereference beam. FIG. 13C is a three-dimensional schematic of the opticalcomponent 1310 optically coupled to the optical component 1312 toproduce an output beam that is a combination of the twice-diffractedmeasurement beam and the reference beam. In some implementations, theoptical component 1310 and component 1312 can be combined into a singlemonolithic optical component. In some implementations, the configurationshown in FIG. 13C has the advantage of being relatively compact. Inaddition, the encoder head configuration shown in FIG. 13C can assuresimilar output beam behavior with respect to input beam alignment errorscaused by tilt and beam shearing.

FIG. 14A is a two-dimensional schematic a cross-section of the opticalcomponent 1310 of FIG. 13A showing that the first return beam 12corresponds to the 1^(st) order diffracted beam of the incidentmeasurement beam 11 and that the second return beam 22 corresponds tothe 1^(st) order diffracted beam of the second incident measurement beam21. In contrast, FIG. 14B is a two-dimensional schematic of the samecross-section in FIG. 14A showing that spurious beams, such as the0^(th) order diffracted beam, follow a beam path that cannot beredirected by the optical component to be co-linear with the desiredmeasurement beam. Accordingly, measurement errors caused by theinterference of spurious beams with the measurement beam can be reduced.

In general, any of the analysis methods described above, includingdetermining phase information from detected interference signals anddegree of freedom information of the encoder scales, can be implementedin computer hardware or software, or a combination of both. For example,in some embodiments, electronic processor 150 can be installed in acomputer and connected to one or more encoder systems and configured toperform analysis of signals from the encoder systems. Analysis can beimplemented in computer programs using standard programming techniquesfollowing the methods described herein. Program code is applied to inputdata (e.g., interferometric phase information) to perform the functionsdescribed herein and generate output information (e.g., degree offreedom information). The output information is applied to one or moreoutput devices such as a display monitor. Each program may beimplemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programminglanguage to communicate with a computer system. However, the programscan be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In anycase, the language can be a compiled or interpreted language. Moreover,the program can run on dedicated integrated circuits preprogrammed forthat purpose.

Each such computer program is preferably stored on a storage medium ordevice (e.g., ROM or magnetic diskette) readable by a general or specialpurpose programmable computer, for configuring and operating thecomputer when the storage media or device is read by the computer toperform the procedures described herein. The computer program can alsoreside in cache or main memory during program execution. The analysismethods can also be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium,configured with a computer program, where the storage medium soconfigured causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefinedmanner to perform the functions described herein.

Lithography Tool Applications

Lithography tools are especially useful in lithography applications usedin fabricating large scale integrated circuits such as computer chipsand the like. Lithography is the key technology driver for thesemiconductor manufacturing industry. Overlay improvement is one of thefive most difficult challenges down to and below 22 nm line widths(design rules), see, for example, the International Technology Roadmapfor Semiconductors, pp. 58-59 (2009).

Overlay depends directly on the performance, i.e., accuracy andprecision, of the metrology system used to position the wafer andreticle (or mask) stages. Since a lithography tool may produce$50-100M/year of product, the economic value from improved metrologysystems is substantial. Each 1% increase in yield of the lithographytool results in approximately $1 M/year economic benefit to theintegrated circuit manufacturer and substantial competitive advantage tothe lithography tool vendor.

The function of a lithography tool is to direct spatially patternedradiation onto a photoresist-coated wafer. The process involvesdetermining which location of the wafer is to receive the radiation(alignment) and applying the radiation to the photoresist at thatlocation (exposure).

During exposure, a radiation source illuminates a patterned reticle,which scatters the radiation to produce the spatially patternedradiation. The reticle is also referred to as a mask, and these termsare used interchangeably below. In the case of reduction lithography, areduction lens collects the scattered radiation and forms a reducedimage of the reticle pattern. Alternatively, in the case of proximityprinting, the scattered radiation propagates a small distance (typicallyon the order of microns) before contacting the wafer to produce a 1:1image of the reticle pattern. The radiation initiates photo-chemicalprocesses in the resist that convert the radiation pattern into a latentimage within the resist.

To properly position the wafer, the wafer includes alignment marks onthe wafer that can be measured by dedicated sensors. The measuredpositions of the alignment marks define the location of the wafer withinthe tool. This information, along with a specification of the desiredpatterning of the wafer surface, guides the alignment of the waferrelative to the spatially patterned radiation. Based on suchinformation, a translatable stage supporting the photoresist-coatedwafer moves the wafer such that the radiation will expose the correctlocation of the wafer. In certain lithography tools, e.g., lithographyscanners, the mask is also positioned on a translatable stage that ismoved in concert with the wafer during exposure.

Encoder systems, such as those discussed previously, are importantcomponents of the positioning mechanisms that control the position ofthe wafer and reticle, and register the reticle image on the wafer. Ifsuch encoder systems include the features described above, the accuracyof distances measured by the systems can be increased and/or maintainedover longer periods without offline maintenance, resulting in higherthroughput due to increased yields and less tool downtime.

In general, the lithography tool, also referred to as an exposuresystem, typically includes an illumination system and a waferpositioning system. The illumination system includes a radiation sourcefor providing radiation such as ultraviolet, visible, x-ray, electron,or ion radiation, and a reticle or mask for imparting the pattern to theradiation, thereby generating the spatially patterned radiation. Inaddition, for the case of reduction lithography, the illumination systemcan include a lens assembly for imaging the spatially patternedradiation onto the wafer. The imaged radiation exposes resist coatedonto the wafer. The illumination system also includes a mask stage forsupporting the mask and a positioning system for adjusting the positionof the mask stage relative to the radiation directed through the mask.The wafer positioning system includes a wafer stage for supporting thewafer and a positioning system for adjusting the position of the waferstage relative to the imaged radiation. Fabrication of integratedcircuits can include multiple exposing steps. For a general reference onlithography, see, for example, J. R. Sheats and B. W. Smith, inMicrolithography: Science and Technology (Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York,1998), the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Encoder systems described above can be used to precisely measure thepositions of each of the wafer stage and mask stage relative to othercomponents of the exposure system, such as the lens assembly, radiationsource, or support structure. In such cases, the encoder system'soptical assembly can be attached to a stationary structure and theencoder scale attached to a movable element such as one of the mask andwafer stages. Alternatively, the situation can be reversed, with theoptical assembly attached to a movable object and the encoder scaleattached to a stationary object.

More generally, such encoder systems can be used to measure the positionof any one component of the exposure system relative to any othercomponent of the exposure system, in which the optical assembly isattached to, or supported by, one of the components and the encoderscale is attached, or is supported by the other of the components.

An example of a lithography tool 1500 using an interferometry system1526 is shown in FIG. 15. The encoder system is used to preciselymeasure the position of a wafer (not shown) within an exposure system.Here, stage 1522 is used to position and support the wafer relative toan exposure station. Scanner 1500 includes a frame 1502, which carriesother support structures and various components carried on thosestructures. An exposure base 1504 has mounted on top of it a lenshousing 1506 atop of which is mounted a reticle or mask stage 1516,which is used to support a reticle or mask. A positioning system forpositioning the mask relative to the exposure station is indicatedschematically by element 1517. Positioning system 1517 can include,e.g., piezoelectric transducer elements and corresponding controlelectronics. Although, it is not included in this described embodiment,one or more of the encoder systems described above can also be used toprecisely measure the position of the mask stage as well as othermoveable elements whose position must be accurately monitored inprocesses for fabricating lithographic structures (see supra Sheats andSmith Microlithography: Science and Technology).

Suspended below exposure base 1504 is a support base 1513 that carrieswafer stage 1522. Stage 1522 includes a measurement object 1528 fordiffracting a measurement beam 1554 directed to the stage by opticalassembly 1526. A positioning system for positioning stage 1522 relativeto optical assembly 1526 is indicated schematically by element 1519.Positioning system 1519 can include, e.g., piezoelectric transducerelements and corresponding control electronics. The measurement objectdiffracts the measurement beam reflects back to the optical assembly,which is mounted on exposure base 1504. The encoder system can be any ofthe embodiments described previously.

During operation, a radiation beam 1510, e.g., an ultraviolet (UV) beamfrom a UV laser (not shown), passes through a beam shaping opticsassembly 1512 and travels downward after reflecting from mirror 1514.Thereafter, the radiation beam passes through a mask (not shown) carriedby mask stage 1516. The mask (not shown) is imaged onto a wafer (notshown) on wafer stage 1522 via a lens assembly 1508 carried in a lenshousing 1506. Base 1504 and the various components supported by it areisolated from environmental vibrations by a damping system depicted byspring 1520.

In some embodiments, one or more of the encoder systems describedpreviously can be used to measure displacement along multiple axes andangles associated for example with, but not limited to, the wafer andreticle (or mask) stages. Also, rather than a UV laser beam, other beamscan be used to expose the wafer including, e.g., x-ray beams, electronbeams, ion beams, and visible optical beams.

In certain embodiments, the optical assembly 1526 can be positioned tomeasure changes in the position of reticle (or mask) stage 1516 or othermovable components of the scanner system. Finally, the encoder systemscan be used in a similar fashion with lithography systems involvingsteppers, in addition to, or rather than, scanners.

As is well known in the art, lithography is a critical part ofmanufacturing methods for making semiconducting devices. For example,U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,343 outlines steps for such manufacturing methods.These steps are described below with reference to FIGS. 16A and 16B.FIG. 16A is a flow chart of the sequence of manufacturing asemiconductor device such as a semiconductor chip (e.g., IC or LSI), aliquid crystal panel or a CCD. Step 1651 is a design process fordesigning the circuit of a semiconductor device. Step 1652 is a processfor manufacturing a mask on the basis of the circuit pattern design.Step 1653 is a process for manufacturing a wafer by using a materialsuch as silicon.

Step 1654 is a wafer process that is called a pre-process wherein, byusing the so prepared mask and wafer, circuits are formed on the waferthrough lithography. To form circuits on the wafer that correspond withsufficient spatial resolution those patterns on the mask,interferometric positioning of the lithography tool relative the waferis necessary. The interferometry methods and systems described hereincan be especially useful to improve the effectiveness of the lithographyused in the wafer process.

Step 1655 is an assembling step, which is called a post-process whereinthe wafer processed by step 1654 is formed into semiconductor chips.This step includes assembling (dicing and bonding) and packaging (chipsealing). Step 1656 is an inspection step wherein operability check,durability check and so on of the semiconductor devices produced by step1655 are carried out. With these processes, semiconductor devices arefinished and they are shipped (step 1657).

FIG. 16B is a flow chart showing details of the wafer process. Step 1661is an oxidation process for oxidizing the surface of a wafer. Step 1662is a CVD process for forming an insulating film on the wafer surface.Step 1663 is an electrode forming process for forming electrodes on thewafer by vapor deposition. Step 1664 is an ion implanting process forimplanting ions to the wafer. Step 1665 is a resist process for applyinga resist (photosensitive material) to the wafer. Step 1666 is anexposure process for printing, by exposure (i.e., lithography), thecircuit pattern of the mask on the wafer through the exposure apparatusdescribed above. Once again, as described above, the use of theinterferometry systems and methods described herein improve the accuracyand resolution of such lithography steps.

Step 1667 is a developing process for developing the exposed wafer. Step1668 is an etching process for removing portions other than thedeveloped resist image. Step 1669 is a resist separation process forseparating the resist material remaining on the wafer after beingsubjected to the etching process. By repeating these processes, circuitpatterns are formed and superimposed on the wafer.

The encoder systems described above can also be used in otherapplications in which the relative position of an object needs to bemeasured precisely. For example, in applications in which a write beamsuch as a laser, x-ray, ion, or electron beam, marks a pattern onto asubstrate as either the substrate or beam moves, the encoder systems canbe used to measure the relative movement between the substrate and writebeam.

A number of embodiments have been described. Nevertheless, it will beunderstood that various modifications may be made. Other embodiments arewithin the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An encoder system comprising: an encoder head foruse with a diffractive encoder scale extending in an encoder plane,wherein the encoder head comprises a plurality of optical componentsconfigured and arranged to: i) direct a first incident beam to thediffractive encoder scale at a first incident angle with respect to anormal to the encoder plane; ii) receive a first return beam from thediffractive encoder scale at a first return angle with respect to thenormal to the encoder plane, the first return angle being different fromthe first incident angle; iii) redirect the first return beam to thediffractive encoder scale as a second incident beam at a second incidentangle with respect to the normal to the encoder plane; iv) receive asecond return beam back from the diffractive encoder scale at a secondreturn angle with respect to the normal to the encoder plane, the secondreturn angle being different from the second incident angle; and v)maintain a difference between the first incident angle and the secondincident angle that is less than a difference between the first incidentangle and the first return angle and that is less than a differencebetween the second incident angle and the second return angle.
 2. Theencoder system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of optical componentsare configured and arranged to compensate for a nonlinear change in thefirst return angle.
 3. The encoder system of claim 2, wherein theplurality of optical components comprises a diffraction grating, a firstoptical component and a second optical component, wherein thediffraction grating is configured and arranged to: receive the firstreturn beam and the second return beam from the diffractive encoderscale; transmit the first return beam to the first optical component;and transmit the second return beam to the second optical component. 4.The encoder system of claim 3, wherein the first optical component is aretro-reflector and is configured and arranged to redirect the firstreturn beam to the diffractive encoder scale as the second incidentbeam.
 5. The encoder system of claim 3, wherein the second opticalcomponent comprises a mirror.
 6. The encoder system of claim 5, whereinthe encoder head further comprises a beam-splitting component, and themirror is configured and arranged to redirect the second return beam tothe beam-splitting component.
 7. The encoder system of claim 3, whereinthe diffraction grating is configured and arranged to transmit the firstreturn beam as a first diffracted beam and to transmit the second returnbeam as a second diffracted beam.
 8. The encoder system of claim 2,wherein the plurality of optical components comprises a prism component,a first optical component and a second optical component, wherein theprism component is configured and arranged to: receive the first returnbeam and the second return beam from the diffractive encoder scale;transmit the first return beam to the first optical component; andtransmit the second return beam to the second optical component.
 9. Theencoder system of claim 8, wherein the first optical component is aretro-reflector and is configured and arranged to redirect the firstreturn beam to the diffractive encoder scale as the second incidentbeam.
 10. The encoder system of claim 8, wherein the second opticalcomponent comprises a mirror.
 11. The encoder system of claim 10,wherein the encoder head further comprises a beam-splitting component,and the mirror is configured and arranged to redirect the second returnbeam to the beam-splitting component.
 12. The encoder system of claim 8,wherein the prism component is configured and arranged to refract thefirst return beam towards first optical component and refract the secondreturn beam towards the second optical component.
 13. The encoder systemof claim 8, wherein the prism component is a refractive wedge prism. 14.The encoder system of claim 1, comprising: a detector; and an electronicprocessor, wherein the encoder head is configured and arranged tocombine the second return beam with a reference beam to form an outputbeam, wherein the detector is positioned to detect the output beam, andwherein the electronic processor configured to: receive an interferencesignal from the detector, the interference signal comprising a phaserelated to an optical path difference between the reference beam and thesecond return beam; and determine information about a change in positionof the diffractive encoder scale based on the phase.
 15. The encodersystem of claim 1, comprising the diffractive encoder scale.
 16. Anencoder system comprising: an encoder head for use with a diffractiveencoder scale extending in an encoder plane, wherein the encoder headcomprises one or more optical components configured and arranged to: i)direct a first incident beam to the diffractive encoder scale at a firstincident angle with respect to a normal to the encoder plane; ii)receive a plurality of first return beams from the diffractive encoderscale, each first return beam being associated with a correspondingfirst return angle with respect to the normal to the encoder plane, eachfirst return angle being different from the first incident angle; iii)redirect the plurality of first return beams to the diffractive encoderscale as a plurality of second incident beams, each second incident beambeing associated with a corresponding second incident angle with respectto the normal to the encoder plane; and iv) for each second incidentbeam, receive a corresponding second return beam back from thediffractive encoder scale, each second return beam being associated witha corresponding second return angle with respect to the normal to theencoder plane, each second incident angle being different from thesecond return angle of the corresponding second return beam, wherein adifference between the first incident angle and each second incidentangle is less than a difference between the first incident angle andeach first return angle, and is less than a difference between eachsecond incident angle and the second return angle of the correspondingsecond return beam.
 17. The encoder system of claim 16, comprising: atleast one detector; and an electronic processor, wherein the encoderhead is configured and arranged to combine each second return beam witha corresponding reference beam to form a plurality of output beams,wherein the at least one detector is positioned to detect the pluralityof output beams, and wherein the electronic processor configured to:receive a plurality of interference signals from the at least onedetector, each interference signal comprising, for a correspondingdetected output beam, a phase related to an optical path differencebetween the reference beam and the second return beam of the detectedoutput beam; and determine information about a change in position of thediffractive encoder scale based on the phase from each interferencesignal.
 18. The encoder system of claim 17, wherein the electronicprocessor is configured to determine information about a change inposition of the diffractive encoder scale along at least two differentdirections.
 19. The encoder system of claim 16, wherein the one or moreoptical components comprise a single monolithic optical component. 20.The encoder system of claim 16, wherein each of the first return beamscorresponds to a diffracted beam having a different diffraction order.21. The encoder system of claim 16, comprising the diffractive encoderscale.
 22. The encoder system of claim 21, wherein the encoder scalecomprises a one dimensional or a two dimensional grating.
 23. A systemcomprising: a moveable stage; a diffractive encoder scale extending inan encoder plane; and an encoder system comprising an encoder head,wherein the encoder head comprises a plurality of optical componentsconfigured and arranged to i) direct a first incident beam to thediffractive encoder scale at a first incident angle with respect to anormal to the encoder plane, ii) receive a first return beam from thediffractive encoder scale at a first return angle with respect to thenormal to the encoder plane, the first return angle being different fromthe first incident angle, iii) redirect the first return beam to thediffractive encoder scale as a second incident beam at a second incidentangle with respect to the normal to the encoder plane, iv) receive asecond return beam back from the diffractive encoder scale at a secondreturn angle with respect to the normal to the encoder plane, the secondreturn angle being different from the second incident angle, and v)maintain a difference between the first incident angle and the secondincident angle that is less than a difference between the first incidentangle and the first return angle and that is less than a differencebetween the second incident angle and the second return angle, whereineither the encoder system or the encoder scale is attached to themoveable stage.
 24. A lithography system comprising: a diffractiveencoder scale extending in an encoder plane; an encoder systemcomprising an encoder head, wherein the encoder head comprises aplurality of optical components configured and arranged to i) direct afirst incident beam to the diffractive encoder scale at a first incidentangle with respect to a normal to the encoder plane, ii) receive a firstreturn beam from the diffractive encoder scale at a first return anglewith respect to the normal to the encoder plane, the first return anglebeing different from the first incident angle, iii) redirect the firstreturn beam to the diffractive encoder scale as a second incident beamat a second incident angle with respect to the normal to the encoderplane, iv) receive a second return beam back from the diffractiveencoder scale at a second return angle with respect to the normal to theencoder plane, the second return angle being different from the secondincident angle, and v) maintain a difference between the first incidentangle and the second incident angle that is less than a differencebetween the first incident angle and the first return angle and that isless than a difference between the second incident angle and the secondreturn angle; a moveable stage, wherein either the encoder system or theencoder scale is attached to the moveable stage; an illumination systemcoupled to the encoder system, the illumination system including aradiation source, wherein during operation of the lithography system,the source directs radiation to the encoder system; a detector todetect, during operation of the lithography system, an output beam fromthe encoder system; an electronic processor configured to: receive aninterference signal from the detector, the interference signalcomprising a phase related to an optical path difference; and determineinformation about relative displacement of the encoder scale based onthe phase; and a positioning system coupled to the electronic processorand configured to adjust the position of the stage based on theinformation about the relative displacement of the encoder scale.
 25. Asystem comprising: a moveable stage; a diffractive encoder scaleextending in an encoder plane; and an encoder system comprising anencoder head, wherein the encoder head comprises a one or more opticalcomponents optical components configured and arranged to i) direct afirst incident beam to the diffractive encoder scale at a first incidentangle with respect to a normal to the encoder plane, ii) receive aplurality of first return beams from the diffractive encoder scale, eachfirst return beam being associated with a corresponding first returnangle with respect to the normal to the encoder plane, each first returnangle being different from the first incident angle, iii) redirect theplurality of first return beams to the diffractive encoder scale as aplurality of second incident beams, each second incident beam beingassociated with a corresponding second incident angle with respect tothe normal to the encoder plane, and iv) for each second incident beam,receive a corresponding second return beam back from the diffractiveencoder scale, each second return beam being associated with acorresponding second return angle with respect to the normal to theencoder plane, each second incident angle being different from thesecond return angle of the corresponding second return beam, wherein adifference between the first incident angle and each second incidentangle is less than a difference between the first incident angle andeach first return angle, and is less than a difference between eachsecond incident angle and the second return angle of the correspondingsecond return beam, and wherein either the encoder system or the encoderscale is attached to the moveable stage.
 26. A lithography systemcomprising: a diffractive encoder scale extending in an encoder plane;an encoder system comprising an encoder head, wherein the encoder headcomprises one or more optical components optical components configuredand arranged to i) direct a first incident beam to the diffractiveencoder scale at a first incident angle with respect to a normal to theencoder plane, ii) receive a plurality of first return beams from thediffractive encoder scale, each first return beam being associated witha corresponding first return angle with respect to the normal to theencoder plane, each first return angle being different from the firstincident angle, iii) redirect the plurality of first return beams to thediffractive encoder scale as a plurality of second incident beams, eachsecond incident beam being associated with a corresponding secondincident angle with respect to the normal to the encoder plane, and iv)for each second incident beam, receive a corresponding second returnbeam back from the diffractive encoder scale, each second return beambeing associated with a corresponding second return angle with respectto the normal to the encoder plane, each second incident angle beingdifferent from the second return angle of the corresponding secondreturn beam, wherein a difference between the first incident angle andeach second incident angle is less than a difference between the firstincident angle and each first return angle, and is less than adifference between each second incident angle and the second returnangle of the corresponding second return beam; a moveable stage, whereineither the encoder system or the encoder scale is attached to themoveable stage; an illumination system coupled to the encoder system,the illumination system including a radiation source, wherein duringoperation of the lithography system, the source directs radiation to theencoder system; a detector to detect, during operation of thelithography system, an output beam from the encoder system; anelectronic processor configured to: receive an interference signal fromthe detector, the interference signal comprising a phase related to anoptical path difference; and determine information about relativedisplacement of the encoder scale based on the phase; and a positioningsystem coupled to the electronic processor and configured to adjust theposition of the stage based on the information about the relativedisplacement of the encoder scale.
 27. A method comprising: directing,from an encoder head, a first incident beam to a diffractive encoderscale at a first incident angle with respect to a normal to the encoderscale; receiving, at the encoder head, a first return beam from thediffractive encoder scale at a first return angle with respect to thenormal to the encoder plane, the first return angle being different fromthe first incident angle; redirecting, from the encoder head, the firstreturn beam to the diffractive encoder scale as a second incident beamat a second incident angle with respect to the normal to the encoderplane; and receiving, at the encoder head, a second return beam backfrom the diffractive encoder scale at a second return angle with respectto the normal to the encoder plane, the second return angle beingdifferent from the second incident angle, wherein a difference betweenthe first incident angle and the second incident angle is less than adifference between the first incident angle and the first return angle,and less than a difference between the second incident angle and thesecond return angle.
 28. The method of claim 27, comprising: combining,at the encoder head, the second return beam with a reference beam toform an output beam.
 29. The method of claim 28, comprising: detecting,at a detector, the output beam; obtaining, at an electronic processorcoupled to the detector, an interference signal produced at the detectorin response to detecting the output beam, wherein the interferencesignal comprises a phase related to an optical path difference betweenthe reference beam and the second return beam; and determininginformation about a change in a position of the encoder scale based on aphase of the interference signal.
 30. The method of claim 29, whereinthe phase is a heterodyne phase.
 31. The method of claim 28, comprising:receiving, from an optical source, a source beam at a beam splittingcomponent of the encoder head; and splitting the source beam into thefirst incident beam and the reference beam at the beam splittingcomponent.
 32. The method of claim 31, comprising: receiving the secondreturn beam at a first optical component of the encoder head; andredirecting the second return beam from the first optical component tothe beam-splitting component.
 33. The method of claim 32, comprising:receiving, at the first optical component, the first return beam fromthe encoder scale; redirecting the first return beam, from the firstoptical component, to a second optical component of the encoder head;and redirecting the first return beam, from the second opticalcomponent, to the encoder scale as the second incident beam at thesecond incident angle.
 34. The method of claim 28, comprising increasinga deviation between a beam path of the first return beam and a beam pathof the reference beam.
 35. The method of claim 27, comprising:receiving, at a first optical component of the encoder head, the firstreturn beam and the second return beam from the encoder scale;redirecting, from the first optical component, the first return beam andthe second return beam to a retro-reflector of the encoder head;redirecting, from the retro-reflector, the second return beam to abeam-splitting component of the encoder head; redirecting, from theretro-reflector, the first return beam to a second optical component ofthe encoder head; and redirecting the first return beam, from the secondoptical component, to the encoder scale as the second incident beam atthe second angle.
 36. The method of claim 27, comprising: receiving, ata diffraction grating, the first return beam and the second return beamfrom the diffractive encoder scale to provide a first diffracted beamand a second diffracted beam, respectively; and redirecting, from thediffraction grating, the first diffracted beam to a first opticalcomponent.
 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the first opticalcomponent is a mirror or a retro-reflector, and wherein the methodfurther comprises redirecting the first diffracted beam from the firstoptical component to the encoder scale as the second incident beam atthe second angle.
 38. The method of claim 36, comprising: redirecting,from the diffraction grating, the second diffracted beam to abeam-splitting component; and combining, at the beam-splittingcomponent, the second diffracted beam with a reference beam to producean output beam.
 39. The method of claim 27, comprising: receiving, at aprism component of the encoder head, the first return beam and thesecond return beam; and redirecting, from the prism component, the firstreturn beam to the diffractive encoder scale as the second incident beamat the second angle.
 40. The method of claim 38, further comprising:redirecting, from the prism component, the second return beam to abeam-splitting component; and combining, at the beam-splittingcomponent, the second diffracted beam with a reference beam to producethe output beam.
 41. The method of claim 27, wherein redirecting thefirst return beam to the diffractive encoder scale as a second incidentbeam comprises: receiving the first return beam at a first prismcomponent; redirecting, from the first prism component, the first returnbeam to a reflecting component such that the first return beam isreflected to a second prism component; and redirecting, from the secondprism component, the first return beam to the encoder scale as thesecond incident beam.
 42. The method of claim 27, comprising: receiving,at a beam-splitting component of the encoder head, a source beam; andsplitting, at the beam-splitting component, the source beam into thefirst incident beam and a first reference beam, wherein redirecting thefirst return beam to the diffractive encoder scale as a second incidentbeam comprises receiving the first incident beam at the beam-splittingcomponent.
 43. The method of claim 42, comprising: redirecting, from thebeam-splitting component, the first return beam through a first prismcomponent of the encoder head to change an angle of propagation of thefirst return beam; redirecting the first return beam, after passingthrough the first prism component, back to the beam-splitting componentand through a second prism component to again change an angle ofpropagation of the first return beam.
 44. The method of claim 43,comprising: redirecting the first reference beam to a reference surfaceat a first reference angle; receiving, at the beam-splitting component,a first return reference beam from the reference surface; redirecting,the first return reference beam through the first prism component of theencoder head to change an angle of propagation of the first returnreference beam; redirecting the first return reference beam, afterpassing through the first prism component, back to the beam-splittingcomponent and through a second prism component to again change an angleof propagation of the first return reference beam; and directing, fromthe beam-splitting component and after passing through the second prismcomponent, the first return reference beam to the reference surface as asecond reference beam at a second reference angle.
 45. The method ofclaim 44, wherein the reference surface comprises the diffractiveencoder scale.
 46. The method of claim 27, wherein each of the firstreturn beam and the second return beam is a diffracted beam.
 47. Themethod of claim 46, wherein each diffracted beam is a first orderdiffracted beam.
 48. The method of claim 27, wherein the first incidentbeam and the first return beam are non-co-linear and non-parallel, andthe second incident beam and the second return beam are non-co-linearand non-parallel.